b center Prologue /b /center

i Dear Harry,

Counting the times we've been apart on one hand isn't exactly the best way to start a letter is it? But its true we've only ever been apart 4 times and our fourth time lasted until now. I don't really know what to say except that I'm alive and well and I miss you terribly.

Do you remember some of the times we had together? I do, they were some of the best memories of my life.

I went away so that you could focus on the task at hand but the going away sort of went longer then I had actually planned. It was my decision to stay away, and now I am not positive of whether I can truly say that I regret it.

True, I hate Trelawney with every fiber of my being for making the official prophecy "A boy will come to those who have thrice defied the Dark Lord...who has power the dark Lord knows not. Either must die at the hands of the other for neither can live whilst the other survives."

But in my heart I know that if it were not for you finding out about it you would not have been as prepared to take on that horrible thing.

Did you know its been about 17 years since I last saw you. I remember every moment of that day. It is not one that can so easily be forgotten. Harry that was the best day of my life and I am forever in your debt for the happiness that that one experience brought into my life.

There is no easy way to say this so I will just come right out and say it. You're a father. Her name is Elizabeth Harriet Potter (though that is not the name she is enrolled in school under. I made mother promise not to tell anyone, Hermione knows and I think she may have let it slip to Ron at some point. But then again he probably guessed. Where else would this beautiful young lady with bright green eyes, and dark auburn hair have come from.

She is a beautiful smart young witch she just finished her OWL's. Hermione was a bit put off when she found out that Liz got more than her. That is our Hermione though. Our daughter, God I love being able to say that. It had been the best sixteen years of my life raising her.

Our daughter is the smartest at her school and she was offered a full scholarship to come to Hogwarts for her last two years. She is going to go next year to do her NEWT's

At first I was hesitant to allow her, but she made a good point by saying that Professor McGonagall is now the Head Mistress. She also pointed out that her two most favorite classes are being taught by people that I went to school with, of course she was speaking of you and Neville Longbottom. She also added that it is the best in Europe and also because as it said in the brochure Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher Harry Potter is one of the best in world and we are lucky enough to have him here for the second year!

She knows that you are her father. All her life I've told her about you- the real you not the hero the world painted the one who was kind, generous and giving who wanted to give up all the money he had just to have a family, the person who defeated Tom and lived to tell the tale the one who wanted me to be there but knew we couldn't risk it.

The whole problem with her going to Hogwarts is that you'll be there I'm worried that she'll forget about me when she meets you. Do you think she will? Of course I do not really believe this, but it is hard to see how I could possibly compare with the wonderful Harry Potter. I think I've painted a picture of a normal decent man but what if you're not like that any more? What if your hard, conceited, indifferent?

I cannot actually believe this, you still speak to Ron from time to time, but battling with Voldemort has obviously changed you. I just hope that it has not hurt you too much. It would be more than I could stand.

When she was little she wished so hard for a dad she even had a list of what she wanted her dad to be like. I know I found it the other day she was so embarrassed that I had she took it back a shoved it underneath something in what I can only describe as a rubbish dump (its her room I don't know how she lives in there. It must be magic). She is scared to be going away to a place that she doesn't know, but she will not admit that to me. More importantly she is a bit worried to be going to a place where the only people that she knows are Ron and Hermione's children and you, a father she has never met. Unlike us she wants to be in is Ravenclaw but she'd take Gryffindor over Hufflepuff and Hufflepuff over Slytherin.

She has been researching Hogwarts so much that for a while there I was beginning to wonder if there had been a mistake at the hospital, she and Hermione's daughter Estella were born on the same day. She knows about the chamber, she also found out inadvertently on a trip to the United States that like you she's a Parselmouth.

She found this out much younger than you did, and she has actually learned to slip into it when she doesn't want anyone to know what she is saying especially when she is cursing. She also knows that you are a Parselmouth, Hermione told her this to comfort her when she found out it was a mark of the Slytherin house.

I am just telling you this to warn you, so that you won't be caught off guard if she tries to talk to you in it. She may decide to surprise you for a bit of a shock factor! She's like that you know always up for a bit of mischief like you were at school. She also like you believes that she will never get caught. You had an advantage in this part because you had the Marauder's Map and the cloak.

Speaking of which, please do not give either of these item to her without a very thorough explanation of who they are from and how they work and how she is meant to use them. I would hate for her to be wasting time trying to figure them out when she should be studying for NEWTs.

Please be nice to her and don't tiptoe around her like she's a china doll, she really resents that. But possibly the worse thing that you could do, would be to claim that she isn't yours. I think this would break her heart. Worse still than that would be if you outright ignored her. She's too curious for her own good. I will understand if you do not want her to come there. I know that you will probably not understand why I have kept her from you this long.

Believe me when I say I want the best for both of you and I want you both to get to know each other. I will understand if you do not want her to come. We have agreed to let your decision stand.

I hope you will consider this idea, and I hope that you will be able to accept her into your life, but I am afraid. And, I don't know how the hell I am going to do without her for two years!

Yours forever,
Ginny

/i